The Sibling Society

While Bly discusses trends in American society that are certainly very alarming and may be perfectly correct about the need for Americans to achieve full, responsible adulthood and a more vertical orientation, he also gives off a very strong feeling of an old man who is very annoyed that no one will listen to him. Before discussing Bly's ideas, however, it is worthwhile to ask whether one should listen to him. Bly places a strong emphasis on education and the continuity it provides (after being suitably altered to be more inclusive of women and minorities). He says, for instance that "colleges and universities are p

. . .
society" and left it as a half-baked, undeveloped idea. Rather like the advertising, headline-oriented society he criticizes, Bly wants to have a few flashy slogans do all the work for him and cover the lack of analysis in the book. He mentions, for example, Newt Gingrich and Bill Clinton as sibling-type leaders. But he does not say how they, or George Bush and Ronald Reagan, whom he also criticizes as sibling-type leaders, can be distinguished from the inspiring, vertically-attuned leaders of the past. Clinton and Gingrich and Reagan and Bush, merely seem to most people to be more of the same, but they were all leaders who held power in the 1980s and 1990s. Other than this there is little perceptible difference--at least none that Bly is willing to share with his readers. And he offers few alternative examples of past leaders who were somehow different from them. He does say that Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt "chose working people over their own aristocratic class," and this may be true (163). But, given Bly's shaky record on facts and interpretations (and the fact that he cites no source for this remark or the other historical generalities that surround it), it is difficult to accept this as a demonstration that previou
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Sibling Society, According Bly, Rolling Stone, Eleanor Roosevelt, Red Guard, Clare's Enclosure, Bob Herbert, Adam Smith, Social Security, African Americans, rereading america cultural, robert cullen, cultural contexts critical, bonnie lisle, critical thinking writing, cullen bonnie, gary colombo, colombo robert, lisle boston, boston bedford, writing ed gary, ed gary, thinking writing ed, rereading america, thinking writing,
Approximate Word count = 3552
Approximate Pages = 14 (250 words per page)